Alarmed, Gabriel froze with his fork halfway to his mouth. He didn’t mind doing Nana’s yard, or even Serenity’s, but he had no intention of adding someone else’s to the mix. Next thing he knew, there would be a domino effect, and he’d be on the hook for the whole town. “Uh…”

She waved him off. “Don’t worry. I told her you had a job and didn’t have time to be doing her lawn. That woman has three boys and four or five grandsons. Most of them live here. I told her she needed to get one of those lazy children of hers to do it. Don’t make no sense not helping their mama out when they know good and well their father can’t do it.”

“Did you eat yet?” he asked, cutting into her tirade. If he didn’t interrupt, she’d end up going on forever. At least she hadn’t mentioned getting a call from his neighborhood spy, so his waving had worked. As Serenity had put it, Adele didn’t run and tell that. He smiled inwardly.

“No. Let me fix my plate.”

“I already buttered your bread and left the oven on.”

“Thanks, baby. You want some tea? It’s not too sweet, though. Howard wants me to decrease my sugar intake.”

Howard? Gabriel searched his mind for who the man might be, then remembered it being Dr. Jacobs’s first name. “That’s fine, but I can get it.” He rose from the table, filled two glasses from the pitcher in the refrigerator and placed them on the table. He sat and continued to eat.

Nana brought her plate to the table. “It’s nice sharing dinner with someone. We need to do this more often.”

“You know I love your cooking, so that’s definitely not a problem.” He didn’t realize how much he’d come to enjoy being around her, too.

“What about Sunday?”

“Actually, Serenity and I are going to check out one or two of the lakes around here. I’m still learning my way around, and I heard they were nice spots. She was nice enough to agree to show me around,” he rushed to add when he saw her curious expression.

“That girl always goes out of her way to do something nice for others. She’s going to make some man a wonderful wife one day.”

The thought of Serenity being married to someone else gave him momentary pause. Not that it should matter, since he had no designs on her. But still…“I’m sure she will.”